Green Lantern (Vol 4) 49
Synopsis for "Semper Fi" Following the voice coming from the risen planet of Xanshi and discovering an abandoned Power Battery, John Stewart instructs his Ring scan the battery in order to find out its owner. The ring identifies the battery as power battery 667-2415 and once belonging to Driq, Green Lantern of Sector 667, who was murdered by Sinestro during the MadGod Sector 3600 incident but kept "alive" by an error in his ring. As he hears the ring recount Driq's history, John hears another voice coming from behind him and as he turns he sees Driq, who has been partially turned into a Black Lantern, along with a large number of resurrected Xanshian Black Lanterns. John compares himself with his Earth Lantern comrades, saying that he is the last one to laugh with Hal in the face of danger, doesn't seek attention Guy does, and doesn't know how to put his heart out there like Kyle. He muses about how he used to be called the "Angry" Green Lantern, now they call him stoic. He goes on to think how Hal sometimes says John takes this too seriously before responding "Damn right I do". He then asks with confidence, "Who am I?" before answering "I'm a soldier with a ship on his shoulder, that's bad news for the bad guys". John constructs full Marine combat gear and fires his Green Lantern Construct Rife straight at Driq's old battery, detonating it. Driq informs John that it didn't work and pleads with him to try something else, stating that with each passing second a thousand more Black Lanterns rise across the planet, and they're all looking for him. While Driq is warning him, John has switched tactics and started detonating Construct grenades. An unidentified person responds to Driq's warning by saying that John doesn't belong to those coming for him. A Black Lantern flies in and tackles John to the ground while voicing how much she missed him, then recounts their first night together. John immediately recognizes the Black Lantern as Katma Tui, his late wife, while the other Black Lanterns begin to hold him down. Katma continues, saying how afterwards they did what no Green Lanterns did, tell each other their fears. Katma goes on to retell the tale of when John was still in the Marine Corps and his friend's helicopter collided with another. John went in after him alone but wasn't able to reach him in time. His body was stripped of weapons, clothes, and dignity and paraded across the streets. John still went after him. Katma tells him he would have shot everyone in the crowd that killed him, if he wasn't. She then asks him how many people he killed that day and, if they hadn't run, if he would have killed them all. Katma tells John that he didn't feel anything when he shot the enemies, and that even though he knew it was wrong, killing wasn't what he was afraid of, he was afraid of dying on a foreign land surrounded by unfriendly faces and his body left to rot. Katma asks John if he thinks the Corps would come for his body and if he was frightened. John responds with "I'm not afraid of a damn thing". Katma reminds John of how he's tried to recreate Xanshi with his ring. The Black Lanterns' Aura Recognition reveals that John's Aura is primed with Willpower. Katma tells John that a black ring did what he couldn't, resurrect the planed he killed. John then realizes that Katma is just throwing his own words against him, but that he's wrong, saying he didn't kill Xanshi, he just failed to save them. As Green Energy sparks and crackles around him, John says that after the things he's seen and done in the name of war on Earth, he should know that he can't save everyone and it's time he accepted that. Exploding out in Willpower, John says it's time to move on and creating a unit of Construct Marines says it's time to move out. While the Construct Marines fight alongside John against the Black Lanterns, John thinks about how he was told that the Corps doesn't build character, it reveals it. John claims that he's a soldier with a chip on his shoulder and will be until the day he dies while continuously firing at Black Lanterns with a pair of Construct automatic rifles. Katma says he has to care just as John shoots her in the mouth and responds that he does care, and that's why he sill fights and will fight a whole planet of Black Lanterns if he has to. A Black Lantern of a young boy comes out and tells John he can't find his mother. This makes John realize that the battle is just a waste of time and that the Black Lanterns aren't out to kill him yet. They want him to feel something and it's just a distraction. Katma tells John that he can't win a war by himself, personal or otherwise. John flies away from Xanshi saying Katma is right, but he need a real corps to do that and Oa is right around the corner before realizing that instead of being near Oa, Xanshi is currently located very close to Earth. John then broadcast to Earth that if anyone can hear him, they've got incoming. Appearing in "Semper Fi" Featured Characters *John Stewart Supporting Characters *Driq Villains *Driq *Katma Tui *Black Lantern Corps Other Characters *None Locations *Xanshi *Earth Items *Black Lantern Central Power Battery *Black Lantern Power Ring *Green Lantern Power Battery *Green Lantern Power Ring Vehicles *None Synopsis for "Tales of The Black Lantern Corps: The Birth of Nekron" Inside of a Black Lantern Power Ring, Mera asks The Atom (Ray Palmer) where they are and he responds that he doesn't know. Jean Loring mocks him for this as he is supposed to the leading mind on the building blocks of the universe. Mera asks her what she wants with them and is told that she is to bear witness to her trial against Life and Ray's Compassion will serve to prove her case against The White Light. Jean shows them the Dark Matter within the ring and calls it the skeleton of the universe that existence has grown onto like a fungus. Mera counters by saying she sees is like coral as coral gives the ocean beauty and purpose. Jean claims there is no purpose to life. Jean begins her case by showing Ray and Mera images revealing that The Black existed long before Light invaded the Universe. For centuries the Light continued to grow and Darkness receded until Darkness was able to splinter the Light into the Emotional Spectrum. Everything came into being and Life was born. The Keepers of The Light waged war on the Universe and not for it, as it was never theirs to protect. It took eons but the Darkness manifested its own Guardian which took on the collective image of Death. But Nekron isn't Death, but Peace. Jean begins her closing argument while showing them the Black Lantern Batman Clone and saying that if Ray had died, Nekron would have saved them from death just like he did to other heroes over the years in order use them now to destroy the Light. Jean tells Ray that this is the inconvenient truth and that no one can stop them. Deadman, who is following them, say "I guess I'm no one." Appearing in "Tales of The Black Lantern Corps: The Birth of Nekron" Featured Characters *Ray Palmer *Mera Supporting Characters *Deadman Villains *Black Lantern Corps *Nekron *Superman *Superboy *Wonder Woman *Green Arrow *Kid Flash (Bart Allen) *Animal Man *Jean Loring Other Characters *Coming Soon Locations *Coming Soon Items *Coming Soon Vehicles *None Known Notes *'"Only the dead men have seen the end of war." '- Plato *The invasion of Light into the Universe is known by scientists as 'First Light' and occurred ~13.5 Billion Years ago (200 Million years after the Big Bang, which occurred 13.7 BYA) Trivia *Coming Soon Links *http://www.dccomics.com/dcu/comics/?cm=13577 *http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Green_Lantern_Vol_4_49 *http://www.comicvine.com/green-lantern-vol-5-semper-fi/37-189481/ Category:Green Lantern (Volume 4) Category:Blackest Night: Green Lantern